Each school year, bikes are continuously stolen on campus, not by students but by campus visitors, loiterers or people who aren’t a part of the on-campus community.

Recently, Kent State students have taken to Reddit to express concerns about their bikes being stolen, specifically outside the Centennials. One user by the name of itsCamaro expressed, “It is never students stealing from other students. It is locals. … Thugs tend to wait thinking students will ‘give up.’ Had a friend see his bike months later, and the guy got a felony.”

Once bikes are stolen, it’s difficult to track them down for a few reasons, such as not knowing your bike’s serial number and the tendency for thieves to sell the bike after it’s stolen. This is even more troublesome because once sold, it could be harder to track it down.

“I would also recommend checking Facebook marketplace to see if it gets put up for sale,” user Known_Selection_8359 said.

“In order to even mark them stolen, we need the serial number on most bikes — it’s located under the crankshaft; make sure you take a picture of it when you purchase it,” Kent State Police Sgt. Voyles said.

It’s also important because of issues with bike replicas. You can have the same bike as someone else, but the serial number will always be different. This will help in misunderstandings and accusations of thievery.

“Someone got their bike stolen, and we found the bike, but it had a different lock on it. We found out we actually stole the bike from that person and that it was the wrong serial number for the bike originally stolen,” Voyles said.

One of the notable factors leading to theft are the bike locks. Often these bikes that are stolen aren’t locked up the way they should be. Having a cheap lock on an unattended bike rack or even leaning against a dorm are the easiest to take for thieves.

“Just a wire lock with a small combination lock is easy to cut through. You can fit a pair of bolt cutters in your back pocket,” Voyles said.

Voyles recommended a U lock for those worried about their current bike lock.

“The ones that don’t get stolen are the U locks. They’re a little more expensive, but your bike is expensive too,” Voyles said.

The biggest factor in ensuring your bike doesn’t get stolen is making sure you store it in a secure place. This doesn’t mean the bike racks and locks aren’t secure, but campus provides a more secure option by offering university bike storage rooms within the dorms.

The bike rooms are located in CCA 172, CCD 130, CCF 130, Johnson 163 and Stopher 165 according to the University Housing Bike Registration page. To gain access to these rooms, you simply go to the housing website and request a bike accommodation through StarRez; “If you have access to one bike room, you have access to all bike rooms,” Coordinator for Safety and Community Care Jay Luna said.

Now you may think, “Couldn’t I just put it in my room?” And the short answer is yes, but if you have a form of transportation that needs to be charged, such as an electric bike, scooter, skateboard, etc., it’s against campus fire safety rules.

“You can’t leave chargers unattended in your room. Charging a bike or scooter left alone is considered a fire hazard,” Voyles said.

All things considered, the best way to ensure your bike is in the safest place would be to store it in your room (if not electric) or register it in the university bike rooms. If neither of these places is preferred, you can use the bike racks, but they’re not constantly watched. “It’s not always guaranteed there’s a camera there; maybe in that area, but not pointing at the racks,” Luna said.

“Just make sure to check on your bike every once in a while,” Voyles said. Be as attentive as you can!

Zion Williams is a reporter. Contact her at [email protected].